Prospect rating season is upon us with the Minor League Baseball regular season now over. With your help, I have been narrowing down some of the better prospects in each team's system with the final goal of identifying the Top 15 prospects in each organization's stable. Feel free to continue to recommend players that I have overlooked or simply missed. The final division - the NL East - is being reviewed today.

In the upcoming weeks, this column will be devoted to ranking those prospects that people helped choose in the comments section of the articles, as well as via e-mail. Things to consider when choosing the prospects are 1) tools, 2) statistics, 3) history, and 4) level of competition/age. The players also must still be rookie eligible, which means pitchers cannot have exceed 50 big league innings and hitters cannot have exceeded 130 at-bats at the MLB level.

Feel free to also comment on who you think is the best prospect in the division, as well as which team has the best minor league system. The players listed below are in no particular order and these are just working/brainstorming lists.

Comments: OK, so who did I overlook? The Mets have traded away a number of intriguing prospects in the chase for a World Series title, but the organization does an excellent job of mining for talent, especially on the international front. However, much of the front-line talent is at least three or four years away from making an impact.

Comments: OK, so who did I overlook? The Braves continue to be the Braves, and stockpile young, raw talent from high schools and Latin America. Like the Mets, though, much of the talent is at A-ball or below, which could suggest a few more rough years for the big league club.

Comments: OK, so who did I overlook? The Marlins have some interesting pitchers approaching the Majors, but the overall depth is not impressive. The hitting depth is not deep either with a lot of young, toolsy players having fizzled out in recent seasons. That said, Logan Morrison, Michael Stanton and Matt Dominguez offer huge upsides, but Stanton and Dominguez are probably three years away from helping Florida.

Comments: OK, so who did I overlook? The Phillies organization does not have the depth that some clubs have, but it has some very high-ceiling players (who are extremely raw), including many of the players in Rookie ball and A-ball. From the hitting side of things, the cupboards are almost bare above A-ball.

Comments: OK, so who did I overlook? The Nationals system is still not overflowing with prospects but it has come a long way since the days of being run by Major League Baseball and having a strict development budget. There are some interesting pitchers in the low minors and some toolsy hitters sprinkled throughout the system. Failing to sign first round pick Aaron Crow in 2008 really hurts the system.

Comments

Given some of the names you suggested for the Nats, the following guys might be considered: Bill Rhinehart (Double-A; first base), Danny Espinosa (short season; infielder) & J.P. Ramirez (rookie; outfielder)

For the Braves, Freddie Freeman is worth a mention. 1B that played in Low-A (Rome) with Heyward for most of the year. Showed a little more power than Heyward....and he's just as young as well.

Posted by: Michael Holcomb at September 17, 2008 9:37 AM

What happened to Cameron Maybin for the fish?

As a Nats fan, I wouldn't mind see Daniel Espinosa on there with his .476 OBP, but he only played in the last 19 games.

Posted by: Brandon at September 17, 2008 10:15 AM

I accidentally omitted Maybin when I transferred players from my "rough list" to the finished product. Thanks for the catch. I thought about Espinosa but ultimately left him off due to his modest ceiling and lack of pro at-bats in his debut.

Freeman is listed under Frederick, rather than Freddie. Thanks.

Posted by: marc at September 17, 2008 10:29 AM

Sorry, one more - you listed Jack McGeary twice, under Rookie and Short season. Since he only played 1 game at Vermont, did you mean William Atwood? 2.41 ERA, better than 6:1 K:BB ratio.

Posted by: Brandon at September 17, 2008 10:58 AM

For the Phillies...Carlos Carrasco is in Triple A not A. Also, what about Lou Marson??

Posted by: Joe at September 18, 2008 3:55 AM

For the Mets, I would put two more international guys in the overlooked category, Ezequiel Carrera and Jenrry Mejia. Both would make my top 20.

Good to see Dillon Gee Included.
Even though Dillon Gee was a 21st round pick and may never get any respect from the likes of BA, he has done nothing but perform at a level many top picks would like to since he was drafted.
The kid has a much better set of pitches, including one of the best changeups in the system, than he is usually given credit for and as for as FB speed, he sat at 93/94 with pinpoint location during his predraft workout with the Mets in Houston.

Posted by: Jared at September 25, 2008 9:26 PM

Chris LeRouix has been identified as a cousin of mine: thats why I like to pitch and Since I am still in little league, where can I find your baseball card.
When you come to Boston, I will b e watching.
Ty